What design trends and notable new products did we spy at spring Market in St. Louis? We’ve broken it down for you in this month’s “What’s Trending” below!

 

 

SINGING THE BLUES

 

St. Louis is widely known for the blues—both its signature music and the city’s professional hockey team. So, it seems fitting that one of the biggest trends we spotted at spring Market was, quite simply, blues!

 

​

Walking down the center aisle of the show floor, one couldn’t help but notice the brilliantly blue Calico Carriage Quilt Designs booth. In addition to her newest patterns, designer Debbie Maddy was also promoting the blue-hued Shibori II, her latest collection for Moda.

 

​

A couple of aisles away in the Andover Fabrics area, the Laundry Basket Quilts booth featured a number of projects using designer Edyta Sitar’s new Blue Sky collection. The blue-and-cream-hued collection includes a variety of traditional-style floral prints.

 

​

Sitar is also author of the upcoming Martingale title, Patches of Blue, a collection of “17 quilt patterns and a gallery of inspiring antique quilts” in the classic blue and white color combination.

 

In another recent release from Martingale, Minick and Simpson Blue & White, quiltmaker Laurie Simpson and rug hooker Polly Minick take readers through a stunning collection of blue and white quilts and textiles. Each of the included vignettes are full of ideas for incorporating textiles that work with the reader’s home décor.

 

 

​

Quilt Market attendees were also introduced to designer Christopher Thompson’s (better known as The Tattooed Quilter) debut fabric collection for Riley Blake Designs. Blue Carolina (true to its name) features floral, tile, and text prints in varying shades of blue, plus the adorable French-Bulldog-themed “Edie” print.

 

​

Other notable recent blue collections include Blue Rhapsody from Blank Quilting, Dutchess by Chonga-a Hwang for Timeless Treasures, and InBlue from Art Gallery Fabrics.

 

 

 

COOL CATS

 

Cat designs in fabric are nothing new. After all, many a sewist has a cat or two eager to play the role of “quilt tester,” so it’s only fair they should occasionally be the starring motif in a project. But there were so many fun (and modern!) cat-themed fabric collections and patterns on display at spring Market, we’d be remiss not to mention them.

 

One of our favorite displays at the show was the corner of the Camelot Fabrics’ booth devoted to their upcoming Meow collection. The display itself included adorable garments, a stuffed “Mimi the Cat,” and an actual cat bed all created using the modern, black and white (and occasionally turquoise) cat-themed prints from the Meow collection.

 

​

We also love the colorful (yellows, oranges, pinks, and purples) and hilarious new Caturday collection by Felice Regina for Windham. Caturday, she says, is “inspired by all those moments where you think, ‘I love my cats, but they’re huge jerks.’”  And the designer does a fantastic job of capturing the playful, yet aloof nature of cats in her prints.

 

​

And on the subject of feline disposition (clearly, this is a recurring theme!), the new Cattitude collection by Ginger Oliphant for Studioe is for those that “love cats with an attitude.”  Oliphant’s cats are fun and a little bit fancy—sporting sweaters and eyeglasses. Among the collection’s prints are a 24” x 44” panel and running yardage of 6” square blocks featuring individual cats and text.

 

​

Other cat-centric collections shipping in the next few months include the sweet and simple black/white/pink/gray Feline Myself from Dear Stella and Meow by My Mind’s Eye for Riley Blake Designs.

 

 

 

‘80S, BABY!

 

With the reappearance 1980s’ fashion trends on the runway and on the street in recent years, textile designers have naturally followed suit. And a number of fabric collections released in the previous year—including several introduced at spring Market—have incorporated design elements clearly inspired by ‘80s patterns and fashion.

 

The latest from Cotton + Steel designer Kim Kight is Snap to Grid, a “super happy” ‘80s-inspired basics collection that includes prints like “Ziggy,” “Tubular,” “80s Party,” “Little Pill Dot” and“Big Pill Dot,” and the collection namesake “Snap to Grid.”

 

​

Kight introduced the collection at her spring Market booth with the help of a “super rad” boom box sewing machine cover, roller-skate-themed “Hot Skates” quilt pattern (created by Kerry Goulder, a.k.a Kid Giddy), and—of course—scrunchies!

 

The new Hello collection from Swirly Girls’ designer Susan Emory for Michael Miller Fabrics isn’t as overtly ‘80s inspired, but its “Call Me!” print featuring rows of corded (yes corded!) retro-ish phones certainly gives it an ‘80s feel. And Emory’s accompanying “Party Line” quilt has a definite ‘80s-teenage-girl vibe.

 

Finally, Riley Blake Designs’ new licensed Tetris collection pays homage to one of the most popular video games introduced in the 1980s (though, it’s worth noting that Tetris really came to popularity following its release on the 1989 handheld Game Boy).

 

The Tetris fabric collection features a logo print, a “Tetris Dot” print, and several Tetris block patterns, including the main print, a stripe, and a “Multi Tetris Fill” print. The highlight of the collection is its panel print, which replicates (in fabric) the Tetris game interface, complete with time and score.

 

 

Subscribe to our eInsider Newsletter

News and Trends from International Quilt Market

   BACK TO 
HOME PAGE »